שמות, פרק ב׳, פסוק ט״ו

The sudden transition in the life of Moses from a prince in the royal palace to a hunted fugitive involves a dramatic chain of events driven by divine providence. The news of his actions did not reach Pharaoh by chance. Rather, it was a direct tip-off from Dathan and Abiram, the very men Moses had attempted to separate during their quarrel. Pharaoh heard the exact words hurled at Moses, realizing that Moses had killed the Egyptian taskmaster through speech by invoking the Explicit Name of God. This realization sparked a deep anxiety within Pharaoh, who feared Moses might use this same power against him, prompting him to act swiftly [פני דוד, אלשיך, שפתי כהן]. Another perspective suggests that Pharaoh simply learned that the foundling he raised had been exposed as a Hebrew acting against the crown, leading him to decide to destroy Moses just as one would put down a pet that had turned dangerous [קונטרס חיבה יתירה, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

Because Moses held a high status as the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter, he could not be harmed like a commoner. His position required a special legal procedure [רש ר הירש, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Despite this, the primary approach among commentators is that Moses was actually captured, judged, and handed over to the executioner. Pharaoh sought to kill him but ultimately failed due to a visible miracle. As the executioner struck, the neck of Moses turned to solid marble and the sword shattered. In that moment, God struck Pharaoh mute, rendered his ministers deaf, and blinded the executioners. Alternatively, an angel descended and took on the physical appearance of Moses, allowing the real Moses to slip away [רש״י, העמק דבר, תורה תמימה, דעת זקנים, חומש קה״ת, אלשיך]. Seeing the king's furious face and recognizing the immediate danger, Moses made a sudden and miraculous escape directly out of the palace and beyond all of Pharaoh's sovereign territory [אור החיים, אלשיך, ביאור יש״ר].

Between this flight from Egypt and the eventual arrival in Midian, a massive gap in time occurred that the biblical narrative skips over. Decades passed during this interval. Moses initially fled to the land of Cush, where he joined the military, eventually became king, and ruled for forty years. This entire chapter of his life is omitted from the record because Cush was not the land God had chosen. Only much later, at a very advanced age, did Moses finally make his way to Midian [הכתב והקבלה, ביאור יש״ר, חומש קה״ת].

The arrival in Midian represented a long-term settlement. Moses specifically chose this location to break the forces of strict judgment and impurity that dominated the region, actively preparing the spiritual ground for the Israelites to enter the desert [שפתי כהן]. However, staying there carried significant risk. Because Midian was under Pharaoh's broader political control, Moses was forced to live outside the established settlements as a humble shepherd to avoid being identified and extradited [אבן עזרא]. Others disagree with this assessment, arguing that the highly respected status of his future father-in-law Jethro proves Moses lived openly and did not need to hide [שד״ל].

Upon arriving, Moses sat down to rest physically after his arduous journey [רשב״ם, ספורנו, העמק דבר, קאסוטו]. He did not choose to rest by the area's central water source by mere coincidence. Drawing on the history of the patriarch Jacob and Abraham's servant Eliezer, Moses knew that proper marital matches are providentially arranged by wells. He positioned himself there and prayed that God would provide his future wife through the communal act of watering the flocks. Divine providence indeed guided him to this pure location, ensuring he would meet Zipporah and establish his family [רש״י, מזרחי, לבוש האורה, ברכת אשר].